So Red the Rose
So Red the Rose is the first and only album by the Duran Duran spinoff group Arcadia, released by Capitol-EMI-Parlophone on 18 November 1985. About the album The album was written and performed by Arcadia, a pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, during a break in that band's schedule. There were many musical guests on the album, including Dave Gilmour, Herbie Hancock, Grace Jones, and Sting (who provided backing vocals on "The Promise"). So Red the Rose includes the singles "Election Day", "Goodbye Is Forever" and "The Flame". The album's artwork illustrations are by Tony Viramontes and features painted ink drawings inspired by the sketches of Jean Cocteau as well as an innovative "light space" photograph of the band by Dean Chamberlain, who also directed the video for the song, "Missing". Encrypted messages Some versions of the album and related singles contained a numeric code in their artwork, though versions in some countries simply used randomized numbers which did not decipher to anything intelligible. The code was a simple substitution cyper, numbering the letters of the alphabet (for example, A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.). Box sets As part of EMI's massive Duran Duran reissue plans, a jewel case 3 disc Arcadia: So Red the Rose (2 CD Set and DVD) box set was released on 12 April 2010. It includes the entire album, single mixes, the B-sides "She's Moody And Grey, She's Mean And She's Restless" and "Flame Game" (Yo Homeboy Mix), four versions of non-album track "Say The Word" (a track specially commissioned for the soundtrack of Playing For Keeps), and an unreleased instrumental mix of "The Promise". The DVD contains the original 1987 video release of The Making of Arcadia. In 2008 a more complete unofficial limited edition was released by the DD Fan Club. This edition features 23 tracks digitally remastered into 6 CD single set called Arcadia - The Singles Box Set. It comprises all the singles ever released for the Arcadia project (So Red the Rose album LP), also including "Say The Word". The packaging is a 'so red the velvet', faithfully replicating the original single sleeve artwork, plus 8-page fold-out picture booklet of lyrics and biography. Track listing #"Election Day" - 5:29 #"Keep Me in the Dark" - 4:31 #"Goodbye Is Forever" - 3:49 #"The Flame" - 4:23 #"Missing" - 3:40 #"Rose Arcana" - 0:51 #"The Promise" - 7:30 #"El Diablo" - 6:05 #"Lady Ice" - 7:32 Singles #"Election Day" (October 1985) #"Goodbye Is Forever" (January 1986) #"The Promise" (1986) #"The Flame" (July 1986) Personnel Arcadia are: *Simon Le Bon - vocals *Nick Rhodes - keyboards *Roger Taylor - drums With: *Grace Jones - backing vocals (tracks: 1, 4) *Sting - backing vocals (track: 7) *Herbie Hancock - keyboards (track: 7) Additional musicians: *Mark Egan - bass guitar *Carlos Alomar - guitar *David Gilmour - guitar *Andy Mackay - saxophone *David Van Tieghem - drums *Steve Jordan - drums *Raphael Dejesus - percussion *Wendel Jr. - drum programming *Jean-Claude Dubois - harp *Masami Tsuchiya - violin *Pierre Defay - violin Production: *Produced by Alex Sadkin, Arcadia *Recorded by Larry Alexander; assisted by Phillippe Lafont *Engineered by Larry Alexander *Mixed by Larry Alexander, Phil Burnett, Nick Delre, Billy Miranda, Ron Saint Germain *Mastered by Bob Ludwig *Artwork (illustrations) by Tony Viramontes *Artwork (sleeve) by - David + Malcolm at Assorted iMaGes See also *Discography 4: Arcadia *Duran Duran discography featuring Arcadia Category:Arcadia albums